Taking up the cudgels for perchlorates,

Metal perchlorates are compounds of great chemical interest since they own some unique properties, such as high electronegativity and relatively low charge density, poor complexing ability, high solubility in various organic solvents and kinetic stability under mild conditions. Besides forming polar media when dissolved in solvents, metal perchlorates recently found large employment as Lewis acid promoters in various organic transformations, both in developing new protocols for known and largely used reactions, both in promoting new kind of reactivity. In this paper, a general overview of the more recent uses of lithium, magnesium, zinc and nickel perchlorates is presented, underlining that under mild conditions such perchlorates are quite safe chemical products